Driving the Day

Good Friday morning. BULLETIN: “TOKYO (AP) — Toyota and Mazda say they will set up a $1.6 billion joint-venture plant in the U.S., creating 4,000 jobs.”

— @realDonaldTrump at 6:02 a.m.: “Toyota & Mazda to build a new $1.6B plant here in the U.S.A. and create 4K new American jobs. A great investment in American manufacturing!”

Story Continued Below

THE REAL TIMELINE — SPEAKER PAUL RYAN told the Wisconsin State Journal that he “plans to introduce a tax overhaul bill in September with the goal of passing it through the House by the end of the year.” No October deadline. Ryan also said if the House doesn’t do its job “we will depress turnout” in 2018. http://bit.ly/2fdWlzW

WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT — “Special Counsel Robert Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe,” by WSJ’s Del Quentin Wilber and Byron Tau: “Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, according to people familiar with the matter. The grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, signals that Mr. Mueller’s inquiry will likely continue for months. … Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said he wasn’t aware that Mr. Mueller had started using a new grand jury. ‘Grand jury matters are typically secret,’ Mr. Cobb said. ‘The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly. … The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.’” http://on.wsj.com/2ua1HTD

REUTERS — “Grand jury issues subpoenas in connection with Trump Jr., Russian lawyer meeting: sources,” by Karen Freifeld and John Walcott: “A grand jury has issued subpoenas in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, signaling an investigation is gathering pace into suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The sources added that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller had convened the grand jury investigation in Washington to help examine allegations of Russian interference in the vote.” http://reut.rs/2fbO6V3

— “One year into the FBI’s Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail,” by CNN’s Evan Perez, Pamela Brown and Shimon Prokupecz: “Federal investigators exploring whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian spies have seized on Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia as one of the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward, according to people familiar with the investigation. The web of financial ties could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader and murkier questions of collusion in the 2016 campaign, these sources said. …

“CNN has learned some of the investigators involved in the probe are buying liability insurance out of concern they could become targets of lawsuits from those who are being investigated, according to one of the people familiar with the probe. The Justice Department covers legal fees for employees sued in the course of their duties, but some of the lawyers want extra protection.” http://cnn.it/2v4ktJ1

TRUMP RESPONDS — “Trump rallies his base against Russia investigation,” by Matt Nussbaum in Huntington, West Virginia: “President Donald Trump used a campaign-style rally Thursday night to level a sustained attack on the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election, just hours after news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller had tapped a grand jury as part of the wide-ranging probe. Calling the investigation ‘fake’ and ‘demeaning,’ he said it was both a Democratic excuse for the election loss and a distraction from what Trump contends are the more serious crimes of his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

“The adoring crowd here responded by reprising a hallmark of the campaign, chanting, ‘Lock her up!’ … ‘We didn’t win because of Russia — we won because of you, that I can tell you,’ Trump said, continuing the riff. ‘Have you seen any Russians in West Virginia or Ohio or Pennsylvania? Are there any Russians here tonight?’” http://politi.co/2u6asKo

— “West Virginia Democratic governor switches to GOP,” by Matt Nussbaum, Gabe Debenedetti, Kevin Robillard and Daniel Strauss: “West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced a party switch Thursday evening in a surprise appearance with President Donald Trump in Huntington, West Virginia. ‘Today, I will tell you, with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, I can’t help you anymore being a Democrat governor,’ Justice said. ‘So tomorrow, I will be changing my registration to Republican.’ … Justice, who seldom worked with other Democrats, recently spent a well-publicized day hunting with Donald Trump Jr. — a familiar political optic in a largely rural state with a strong hunting tradition. But his move still blindsided his old party, which is now left with control of just 15 governor mansions.” http://politi.co/2uq4seu

WHERE THINGS STAND ON CAPITOL HILL …

REPUBLICANS looking to find a path forward on a short-term government funding bill and raising the debt ceiling when they come back in September have begun discussing combining the two must-pass pieces of legislation. Both the debt ceiling and government funding bills will need Democrats to pass. They are likely to try to extend the debt ceiling and government funding to December. If they combine them it would allow leadership to try to strike a deal. EXPECT this strategy to inflame conservative members who are unlikely to be appeased by the argument that the real fight is in December.

JUST TO CLEAR THINGS UP — OMB DIRECTOR MICK MULVANEY told reporters yesterday at a brown-bag lunch that “Steve Mnuchin speaks for the administration when it comes to — on the debt ceiling. We’ve heard that out of the President’s mouth, and I respect that, in fact that’s the right way to do it. I’ve got budget, Mnuchin’s got debt ceiling, and Cohen’s got tax … so there is no infighting within the administration about the debt ceiling.”

— “Republicans leave town with no clear path on Obamacare,” by Jen Haberkorn and Paul Demko: “Senate leaders want to just drop the issue altogether. Conservatives say they’re still fighting for repeal. Moderates want to launch a bipartisan effort to fix the shaky Obamacare system. The reality is that, after seven years of unity on repealing Obamacare, Republicans are rudderless on how to talk about or address the defining domestic policy issue of nearly the past decade for their party, and they have no clear plans despite holding all the levers of power in Washington. Now, they face a month away from the Capitol, answering to their home-state voters about their lack of progress.” http://politi.co/2ht3bm3

THE KELLY CHRONICLES — NYT A1, “John Kelly Quickly Moves to Impose Military Discipline on White House,” by Glenn Thrush, Mike Shear and Eileen Sullivan: “In his six months as Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly often described the White House as one of the most dysfunctional organizations he had ever seen, complained to colleagues and allies about its meddling, incompetence and recklessness, and was once so angry he briefly considered quitting. Now as President Trump’s chief of staff, he is doing something about it — with a suddenness and force that have upended the West Wing. Mr. Kelly cuts off rambling advisers midsentence. He listens in on conversations between cabinet secretaries and the president. He has booted lingering staff members out of high-level meetings, and ordered the doors of the Oval Office closed to discourage strays. …

“‘Several times I’ve been on phone conversations with the president over the last couple of days and General Kelly has been on those conversations as well,’ Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters on Thursday when asked if Mr. Kelly was making a mark. The Trump White House is a judge-a-book-by-its-cover workplace, and staff members have been struck by Mr. Kelly’s bearing: tall, stern and commanding a respect Mr. Priebus never did. People close to Mr. Kelly said they expected him to methodically assess his new staff before making more drastic changes — and he has told people that he wants to improve morale before attacking the organizational chart.” http://nyti.ms/2wcsdJn

— “Kelly gives McMaster cover in West Wing battles: Trump’s national security adviser has emerged as one of the most volatile personalities in White House,” by Bryan Bender, Josh Dawsey and Nahal Toosi: “National security adviser H.R. McMaster, who has waged a pitched battle with other senior staff for control over policy and personnel on the National Security Council, is taking advantage of the shield offered by the arrival of his old military colleague John Kelly as White House chief of staff. Kelly told McMaster this week that he wanted him to remain as national security adviser, said two senior White House aides, and has encouraged him to make any staffing changes he deems necessary. …

“In recent weeks, according to more than half a dozen current and former officials who have had direct interaction with him, McMaster has bristled at White House aides close to Trump whom he perceives as undercutting his authority. He seethes over every national security leak and lashes out over negative news stories he thinks are spread by his enemies. And McMaster, whose temper is legendary, frequently blows his top in high-level meetings. ‘He can be very intense,’ a McMaster confidant who speaks with him regularly and is a major supporter, told POLITICO Thursday. ‘Some find that difficult.’” http://politi.co/2wqV1wN

ANOTHER PLOT TWIST — “Flynn details tie to data firm, transition pay,” by AP’s Chad Day and Stephen Braun: “President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is revealing a brief advisory role with a firm related to a controversial data analysis company that aided the Trump campaign, The Associated Press has learned. The disclosure of Flynn’s link to Cambridge Analytica will come in an amended public financial filing in which the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general also discloses income that includes payments from the Trump transition team … The amended disclosure shows that just before the end of the campaign, Flynn entered into a consulting agreement with SCL Group, a Virginia-based company related to Cambridge Analytica, the data mining and analysis firm that worked with Trump’s campaign.” http://bit.ly/2htghj9

TRUMP INC. — “Secret Service vacates Trump Tower command post in lease dispute with president’s company,” by WaPo’s Carol Leonnig, David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell: “The Secret Service has vacated its command post inside Trump Tower in Manhattan following a dispute between the government and President Trump’s company over the terms of a lease for the space … Previously, the Secret Service had stationed its command post — which houses supervisors and backup agents on standby in case of an emergency — in a Trump Tower unit one floor below the president’s apartment. But in early July, the post was relocated to a trailer on the sidewalk, more than 50 floors below, a distance that some security experts worry could hamper the agency that protects the president’s home and family. The command post appears unlikely to move anytime soon back inside Trump Tower, where the president and his family have rarely gone since moving to the White House. On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said the government should seek space in another location.” http://wapo.st/2ht2PM7

AT MAIN JUSTICE — “Justice Dept., Under Siege From Trump, Plows Ahead With His Agenda,” by NYT’s Rebecca Ruiz: “[E]ven as the Justice Department has been under siege by Mr. Trump, [Jeff] Sessions and [Rod] Rosenstein have sought to tune out the noise as they remake the department into the one that is most powerfully carrying out the president’s agenda. ‘We value the independence of the Justice Department,’ Mr. Rosenstein said in an interview this week. … Mr. Sessions is carrying out the president’s conservative agenda with head-turning speed, roiling critics on the left and leaving some career staff members within the department disoriented by the sea change. ‘Sessions as attorney general has been everything conservatives could have dreamed of and liberals could have feared,’ said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

“In the last six months, the attorney general has rolled back Obama-era policies on gay rights, voting rights, and criminal justice and police reform while advancing his own fight against drugs, gangs and violent crime. … Mr. Sessions has mandated that prosecutors be as tough as possible in charging and sentencing all crimes, including drug offenses that carry stiff mandatory minimum prison sentences. He has expanded the ability of the police to seize people’s assets, irrespective of whether they may have been convicted of a crime or even charged. And as he presses a hard-line immigration agenda, he has dispatched additional federal prosecutors to border districts to prosecute immigration cases and has ordered cities and states to fall in line with federal immigration authorities or else face cuts in federal funding.” http://nyti.ms/2v2TGi5

–INTERESTING NUGGET: “Among the paintings that Mr. Rosenstein selected to decorate his conference room at the Justice Department is a portrait of Edward H. Levi, appointed attorney general by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975 after the department’s credibility had been eroded by President Richard M. Nixon, whose firing of the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, led to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus in what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre in October 1973. ‘That right there,’ Mr. Rosenstein said, motioning to the portrait of Mr. Levi. ‘That’s the post-Watergate A.G.’”

— “U.S. Attorney Subpoenas Kushner Cos. Over Investment-For-Visa Program,” by WSJ’s Erica Orden, Aruna Viswanatha and Byron Tau: “Kushner Cos., the New York property development business owned by the family of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, has been subpoenaed by New York federal prosecutors regarding its use of an investment-for-immigration program … The subpoena concerns at least one Jersey City, N.J., development financed in part by a federal visa program known as EB-5: twin, 66-floor commercial-and-residential towers called One Journal Square … The subpoena, received by the company in May, was a document request that included a demand for emails.” http://on.wsj.com/2wqQCKr

1600 PENNSYLVANIA — “Life in the West Wing: Bug zappers and helicopter fumes,” by Tara Palmeri: “Bug zappers buzz in the West Wing while flies zip around. The yellow carpet is worn, and it can sometimes be difficult to work in parts of the White House because it fills with fumes when Marine One lands or takes off on the lawn of America’s most famous home. Some White House aides claim to have seen rodents, and say they’re used to having maintenance professionals moving around their work space to do work on the air conditioning system, which hasn’t been overhauled in more than 20 years.

“Fixing it is top of the agenda for a building-wide renovation blitz scheduled for the next two weeks, while President Donald Trump heads to his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. Along with installing a high-volume air-conditioning system, the work may include replacing worn carpets and addressing other issues … The main situation room was recently closed for two weeks so that the iconic main table could be refurbished, according to a former official.” http://politi.co/2uqjj8Y

SPICER’S POST-WHITE HOUSE LIFE — “Sean Spicer signs with top TV lawyer after meetings with networks,” by Page Six’s Emily Smith and Marisa Schultz: “Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer today signed with renowned attorney Bob Barnett, who represents a host of top politicians and TV news personalities, as he negotiates a big TV deal. Sources say Spicer signed with Barnett and Michael O’Connor of Williams & Connolly Thursday after taking meetings with all the major TV and news networks including NBC, CBS and Fox News last week. The former press secretary had also been courted by all the top Hollywood talent agencies, but sources said he chose Barnett, who is based with Williams & Connolly in Washington D.C. because of his track record with politicians and TV correspondents.” http://pge.sx/2vvvVzN

–TMZ: “Sources close to Spicer tell us the former White House Press Secretary was flattered by the opportunity, but because he believes he’ll have an ‘overwhelming number of commitments in the Fall,’ he declined the offer. As for whether Spicey had the skills to truly compete on ‘DWTS’ — our source said, ‘He’s not a good dancer.’” http://bit.ly/2v4rMk1

UPDATE via Morning Media’s Hadas Gold: “SCARAMUCCI CANCELED HIS BIG ONLINE ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY, where he was supposed to address the American people. Former Fox News co-president Bill Shine was reportedly helping Scaramucci with the event, which was to be broadcast live on various platforms, but Scaramucci tweeted yesterday “No Press Event Tomorrow: Focusing on Family, My Work in The Private Sector. #MovingForward Stay Tuned!”

TRUMP’S FRIDAY — THE PRESIDENT is heading to FEMA for a hurricane briefing and having lunch with VP Mike Pence. He’ll talk to French President Emmanuel Macron before departing for Bedminster.

Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) walks away from the U.S. Capitol after the last vote before the summer break, August 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to return from summer break on September 5. | Mark Wilson/Getty | Mark Wilson/Getty

ALI WATKINS — “Hunt for Trump dossier author inflames Russia probe: An overseas trip to contact a former British spy exposes friction among House, Senate investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller”: Two Republican House Intelligence Committee staffers traveled to London earlier this summer to track down the former British intelligence operative who compiled a controversial dossier on President Donald Trump and Russia, according to three people familiar with the matter. …

“The House staffers left their contact information at two addresses associated with Steele, a former agent for Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service. One of those locations was Steele’s lawyer’s office, where the former spy was meeting with his counsel when the House investigators showed up.” http://politi.co/2wcVm7j

TOP-ED — JOE SCARBOROUGH in WaPo, “Ivanka and Jared, move back to New York”: “For almost a decade, Mika Brzezinski and I had the pleasure of occasionally crossing paths with Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric Trump. I explained that in those encounters, the president’s children were unfailingly deferential and polite. Long before their father’s election, the Trump children enjoyed a stellar reputation among most Manhattan influencers for being hard-working and well raised. They possessed few of the flaws too easily recognizable in other wealthy and well-connected kids. Often, conversations that centered on the boorish behavior of Trump himself would end with someone citing his children as a mitigating factor against whatever severe judgments were being handed down. I once told Trump that a good way to judge most people is by the children they raised, and that by that measure, he seemed to be an unqualified success.

“The Donald’s response was uncharacteristically humble. ‘Anything good you see in my children is the result of them having a great mother,’ he quietly said, with no cameras rolling to catch this fleeting glimpse of humility. … Americans have seen enough headlines over the past six months to better understand why nepotism does not work in the White House. Though my words may suggest otherwise, I genuinely like Jared and Ivanka. I also love Joey, Andrew, Katherine and Jack Scarborough. But I wouldn’t let them run my morning show any more than Trump should let his children run roughshod over White House operations.” http://wapo.st/2vo5A7c

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — From California Playbooker Carla Marinucci: “Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, flexing his muscles in efforts to counter President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, will unveil an ambitious new national effort Friday aimed at providing lawmakers with a comprehensive toolbox to pass substantive climate change legislation at the state and local level. The new initiative to tweak Trump on climate change is being touted as a first on the internet — a ‘digital environmental legislative handbook’ which organizers say will provide political leaders and lawmakers around the nation with a comprehensive curated list of legal and legislative research, voting records, and bill language and data to help them prepare bills on a wide range of environmental action, including air quality, renewable energy, health and climate change.” http://politi.co/2feqHlI

****** A message from Morgan Stanley: Has alternative energy gone mainstream? Several decades ago, renewable energy seemed futuristic. Now, it has emerged as a practical way to power our cities. Morgan Stanley explored the economics driving the industry, the obstacles it faces, and what it means for investors in renewable energy technology. Read more from Morgan Stanley. ******

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Mitch Landrieu, the mayor of New Orleans and president of the United States Conference of Mayors, is trying to sell the importance of mayors in the legislative process. Landrieu, who is wrapping up his last year as mayor of New Orleans, is following in the footsteps of his father, Moon Landrieu, who was himself a New Orleans mayor and president of the conference. The Democrat remains mum about his future plans, but he has been mentioned as a dark horse candidate for higher office once his term expires. “I really don’t [have future plans]. I haven’t had time to think about it that much … and I intend to finish really, really strong, to make sure I keep my eyes focused on the streets in the city of New Orleans and to make sure the people have my full attention and full commitment. When that’s over, I’m going to take a nap.”

The highlights …

ON WORKING WITH TRUMP: “This administration is particularly confused about what they want to talk about at any particular time. They have a very hard time staying on message and as a consequence it is hard to respond to. We don’t have a set position, we’re always ready to work. Whenever they want to find an issue that we have common ground on, and even ones that we disagree on, we’re always ready to be engaged. We don’t have an ideological bent. We don’t have the freedom to do that. We have to work with any president at any time to try to find an answer that works.”

ON HOW MAYORS CAN WORK WITH CONGRESS: “Don’t wait to bring us in until the last minute when everything looks like it’s gone to hell in the handbasket. Talk to us early and we might be able, based on our practical experience, to help you design a better mousetrap on whatever it is you might be talking about. … We’re the ones who build all the projects on time, on task and under budget. We do it much better than the federal government does. But they’ve got to show up to do that role.”

HIS ADVICE FOR WASHINGTON: “Stop being so ideologically bent. Be problem-solvers. Be thoughtful, be practical and be bipartisan. Talk to each other and find common-sense solutions to real problems. We do it every day in our cities. If you want to learn how to balance a budget, come see us. If you want to learn how to choose between bad and worse or good and better, come see us, because we see it every day.” Full interviewhttp://politi.co/2feNePz

MEDIAWATCH – per Hadas Gold’s Morning Media: “‘CBS This Morning” pulled a Kellyanne Conway interview after the senior counselor to the president showed up late on Wednesday, two sources tell me. The interview was teased on CBS in the early morning on Wednesday but it never aired after Conway showed up late to the stand-up spot on the north lawn of the White House. Morning shows run on tight timelines, but entirely ditching an interview with a senior counselor to the president struck me as pretty unusual. CBS News declined to comment and Conway did not respond to a request for comment.”

–JULIA EDWARDS AINSLEY is joining NBC’s national security investigative team in Washington. She most recently has covered the Justice Department beat at Reuters.

–“MEET THE PRESS” promotions: Sarah Blackwill has been promoted to senior producer, Natalie Cucchiara to senior coordinating producer and Sally Bronston to producer.

Playbookers

SPOTTED: Bill Clinton and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe last night at Matsuhisa in Aspen … Sarah Huckabee Sanders last night at Le Diplomate where she had steak frites and house Chardonnay.

ENGAGED — Mike Luce of the Dover Group popped the question to Melissa Salmanowitz of the Gates Foundation Thursday night. While their friends cheered from a secret lookout across the street, Mike proposed under an umbrella outside of Maple in Columbia Heights, where the couple first met. The ring is a family heirloom, previously belonging to Melissa’s grandmother and mother. Pichttp://bit.ly/2vohcXL

TRANSITIONS — Chester Spellman has been named director of AmeriCorps for the Corporation for National and Community Service. He most recently was CEO of Volunteer Florida. … Nicole Hager is joining the Senate Finance Committee as deputy press secretary and is also starting law school at GWU. Yesterday was her last day as deputy press secretary for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). … Michaela Sims is launching a new lobbying firm, Sims Strategies, and is registering for five mostly health and tax-related clients. She most recently was co-founder and partner at Chamber Hill Strategies and has also worked as counsel and LD for former Sens. Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson. Her firm has also hired Ted Prettyman as a director.

OUT AND ABOUT – JOSH GREEN’s book party — pool report: “Bloomberg hosted a party for Bloomberg Businessweek senior national correspondent Joshua Green at the Newseum last night to toast his instant #1 New York Times non-fiction bestseller ‘Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency’. Bloomberg Washington bureau chief Wes Kosova and Bloomberg Businessweek editor Megan Murphy co-hosted Beltway guests during a flash thunderstorm which was on prime display on the Newseum’s panoramic top floor. As remarks ended, a rainbow was visible over the Capitol. Guests nibbled on haute grilled cheese sandwiches and drank spicy margarita ‘Devil’s Delights,’” which was made up of silver tequila, serrano peppers, lime juice, simple syrup, St. Germain, and soda water. $16.20 on Amazonhttp://amzn.to/2v4DwTK … Pic of Josh Green and Charlie Spieringhttp://politi.co/2v2Kf27

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY:Bret Baier, Fox News’ chief political anchor and anchor of “Special Report”. How he’s celebrating: “I am actually playing in a golf tournament out of town, and then coming home and having a little dinner with my wife and two sons – 10 and 7. I am a big fan of homemade cards and one cupcake with a candle – low key. (47 is not that thrilling.)” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2uad2mC

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The host of TYT Network's nationally-syndicated Bill Press Show (Monday-Friday from 7-9am ET), Press attends the daily White House press briefing and writes a weekly column for the powerhouse politics website The Hill.